Six Huge Messes The UFC Should Have Avoided

Sometimes, the UFC shoots itself in the foot with problems that were easily avoidable.

Whether it’s just bad matchmaking or more nefarious issues, the UFC has gone into crisis mode more often than they’d like to admit, and it seems like its been happening with concerning regularity lately.

With mainstream media attention and publicity at an all-time high, the UFC needs to learn from their mistakes of the past to ensure a better product, but even as the world’s best MMA promotion by a wide margin, they could sometimes do much better in dealing with the curveballs the notoriously volatile fight game throws their way.

We broke down the six biggest messes the UFC could have easily avoided, and the results may surprise you:

Photo Credit: MMA Weekly

6. Jon Jones vs. Chael Sonnen

This match-up never made sense in the first place, yet the UFC insisted on putting it together.

They tried it at UFC 151 on short notice after Dan Henderson was forced out with a knee inury, which Jones declined. The UFC then canceled the entire card altogether.

Ignoring fate, they put on the fight at UFC 159 instead, and Jones predictably smashed Sonnen in the first round. However, Jones did break his toe in a freak accident while defending a takedown, and one wonders whether Sonnen could have won the belt had the bout gone past the first round. Jones’ big toe was completely broken in the most grotesque way; he had snagged it in a tear in the Octagon canvas.

But the writing was on the wall the entire time the UFC insisted on putting together a Jones vs. Sonnen title fight.

They tried to punish Jones for not accepting the bout on a week’s notice, yet in reality, it was the fans and other fighters on UFC 151 who were punished.